Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 13 February 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Climate Change Issues specific to the Agriculture, Food and Marine Sectors: Discussion

5:00 pm

Mr. Pat McCormack:

I shall deal with some of the issues that have been raised and my colleague, Mr. Enright, will deal with some as well. Deputy McConalogue is absent but earlier he mentioned the carbon footprint, that the international objectives are very blunt and that Ireland is vulnerable due to having 30% emissions.

The first point he made was that Irish agriculture had made more progress than it gets credit for. Mr. Martin Keane said we sell into 160 countries, which is a credit in itself to this little island off the coast of Europe. It shows the confidence that is out there in Irish agricultural produce. He also asked about improving grassland pH. In a nutshell, it should be a specific measure in a reopened GLAS to bring up the 10% statistic. Obviously, a specific measure would mean a direct payment for spreading lime. Ultimately, that is what will deliver efficient fertiliser use which will benefit the wider environment.

Senator Mac Lochlainn highlighted the double standard in the Mercosur deal in environmental terms. We export 90% of our produce from the island and the big issue is that policy change has not been accepted. There is a disconnect between climate and food production. It was noted by Senator Mulherin that in terms of the footprint we have here, we suffer a great deal from a climatic perspective because we are an exporting nation. It should be driven in some way towards the consumers of the products and the countries in which they reside. Obviously, the SDAS scheme was alluded to by numerous speakers. Origin Green is a great image for us.

As regards the environment, I would say to Deputy Cahill that I would not be so foolish as to think it would be put to bed and sleep forever. Certainly, sleeping giants can be easier to deal with. From an environmental point of view, we will hopefully bring it under control and make it commercially viable for farmers to go about their business in an environmental way. The Deputy mentioned beef production. We said at the outset that we were first in Europe in dairy production, that is No. 1 of 28. We lie in fifth place for beef production. In excess of 50% of beef is produced from the dairy herd. Mr. Farrell of ICOS mentioned just there that sexed semen may be something that could be used positively going forward. If the science delivers in comparison to conventional semen, there may be greater than 50% beef production from the dairy herd and significantly more. Obviously, the dairy herd is growing. The best kept secret in this country's beef industry is that the environmental footprint from the dairy herd is half of that of the suckler herd. As dairy beef production increases, we may see our place in Europe improve from fifth.

Certainly, I agree with Mr. Keane as to local authorities. Everyone needs to play a part right across rural Ireland if we are to see a significant improvement. Investments must be made by local authorities in waste water treatment systems which are up to specification. There is no point in farmers building an industry across rural Ireland if everyone does not play their part. I will hand over to my colleague, Mr. John Enright, to discuss biomass and forestry.